SMS

SMS is integrated through-out Venus. The SMS allows you send SMS to Nurses, Hospitals and Patients, either individual messages or group messages.

SMS is included in Venus – The Essentials. The only costs are the SMS credits pre-purchased through the SMS providers selected by This Planet.

SMS Setup

Data Entry > SMS Setup

You will need to contact your message provider to activate your SMS account and arrange your SMS User ID and SMS Password.

To setup your SMS account in Venus –

• SMS Provider – Select your SMS Provider
• SMS User ID – Provided by the SMS Provider.
• SMS Password – Provided by the SMS Provider.
• SMS Reply Email – Only applicable for Intelli SMS customers. This is the email address all SMS responses will be directed to.
• SMS Sender Info – The standard SMS text included at the end of each SMS message.
• Add Dept to Roster SMS – If set to YES, the Hospital department will be included on a Nurse Roster SMS.
• Add Hospital Address to Roster SMS – If set to YES, the address and contact number of the Hospital where the shift is occurring will be included on the roster SMS.
• Request Delivery Reports – Select where you have requested for delivery reports to be delivered into Venus from your SMS Provider. Not all SMS Providers provide delivery reports and they will charge a fee for this service. Discuss with your SMS provider.
• Only Use Mobile / SMS for Instant SMS – Venus will only use mobile numbers recorded under the Mobile / SMS contact type, if this is selected.

SMS Manager

SMS > SMS Manager

Functions on the SMS Manager screen are –

• View History – Review all SMS messages sent.
• Clear All – Remove all recipients waiting for an SMS to be sent.
• Clear All Messages – Removes the messages from the recipients waiting to be sent an SMS. The recipient details remain.
• Set All Empty with Message 1 – Add the message from the first recipient to all recipients without a message.
• Select SMS Group – Send an SMS to a predefined Group. See details below.
• Send – Send SMS message to all recipients on the SMS Manager screen with the Send box ticked.

The View History screen has filters to assist in locating specific messages –

• Filter options – Name, Number and Message.
• Text box – Free text area to provide further details for the selected Filter, e.g. type the name, the number or selected word(s) from the text.
• Filter button – Select to activate the filters.

You can Save As SMS information from both the History and Current screen to manipulate the data in another program. The default Save As format is Excel.

Creating SMS Groups
On the SMS Manager Screen click ‘Select SMS Group’ to set up a Nurse group for SMS broadcasts.

Set up Nurse Groups

• Select ‘Add Group’ and name the group -e.g. ‘All R/N’s’.
• To add Nurses to the group, select the Nurse Name or Select All.
• Click on the arrow in the centre of the two screens.
• The selected Nurses will appear on the left window.
• Select ‘Save Group’.

Sending a SMS Group Message

• Select the SMS Group from the drop-down menus.
• Select – OK.
• All the names and contact numbers will be added to SMS Manager.
• Type in the message for the first recipient then select Set All Empty with Message 1 and send.

Editing SMS Groups

• Nurses can be removed from SMS Groups by selecting ‘Remove Selected’ or ‘Remove All’.
• If the wrong group is selected, select ‘Clear All’ on the SMS Manager screen and then select another group.

Sorting Nurse List

• To sort the list of all Nurses, click the column you want to sort by (Name, active status, nurse type).
• Click once for ascending and twice for descending.

SMS (reply) Settings for Venus Users
SMS > SMS Settings

Setup the SMS reply setting for each User. The reply can be sent to either a nominated mobile number or an email address.

This should be set-up for each User.

Check with the selected SMS provider whether SMS replies can be emailed and SMS. The service varies with each Provider.

Using SMS in Venus
SMS Contact Details for Hospitals, Nurses and Patients
To send an SMS to a Hospital, Nurse or Patients a “Mobile” or “SMS/Mobile” number must be recorded in their contact tab. Venus will search for any mobile/SMS number if a specific SMS contact type has not been recorded.

However, if you select “Only Use Mobile / SMS for Instant SMS” Venus will only use mobile numbers recorded under the Mobile / SMS contact type, if this is selected.

SMS from Nurse, Hospital & Patient Information tabs, and Nurse Daily Availability screen
An instant SMS message can be sent from any tag with the “Instant SMS” option.

To send and Instant SMS –

1. Select “Instant SMS”
2. A list of the SMS and Mobile numbers recorded for the Hospital, Nurse or Patient is displayed.
3. Highlight the required number and select OK.
4. Type your message
5. Select Send.

A copy of the message is retained in SMS Manager.

Alternatively, Nurse, Hospital and Patient SMS recipients can be added to the SMS Manager by selecting the “Add to SMS List” on the Information tabs.

To add a Recipient to SMS Manager –

1. Select “Add to SMS List”
2. Venus will confirm the new entry has been added to SMS Manager.
3. Go to SMS > SMS Manager
4. Record the message against each Recipient and Send.
5. To copy the message from the first recipient, tab down the column.

SMS from Assess Selected Nurse for Adjoining Shifts screen

A SMS can be sent to one, some or all Candidates on the Check Candidates Screen.

To send and SMS from Check Candidates –

• All Candidates for a shift can be sent an SMS by selecting Add All to SMS List
• One Candidate can be sent an SMS by highlighting the Candidate and selecting Add to SMS List.
• Several Candidates can be sent an SMS by highlighting them separately and selecting Add to SMS List.
• When Candidates to receive an SMS have been chosen, select SMS Manager to type in the SMS message and review who is to receive the message.
• When the message is complete select Send.

A copy of the message and recipients is retained in SMS Manager.

SMS on Roster Creation
An SMS can be sent to a Nurse when a roster is created.

By selecting “OK & SMS” when creating a roster an SMS will be sent to the Nurse with the shift details. Additional text can be added to the message if required.

A copy of the message is retained in SMS Manager.

SMS from the Roster screen
An SMS can be sent to a Nurse from the Roster screen.

To send an SMS from Roster –

• Select the roster
• Right mouse click to open Roster Action Menu
• Select “SMS Roster Details”
• Select the Mobile number, if more than 1 displayed
• Roster details are displayed, additional text can be added.
• Select “Send”.